His Most Precious Girl
by Daedreamer
Summary: AU. Rin is posh, charismatic, and accomplished. Sesshoumaru dislikes her for exactly that. But behind the refined mask, Rin is just a girl in love...with the Sesshoumaru she believes is completely out of her reach. How will she persuade him otherwise?
1. Chapter 1

His Most Precious Girl

Ch. 1

If someone asked what the greatest high school in Tokyo was, everyone would agree it had to be Eclipse Gakuen. If someone asked who the top students in that school were, anyone who knew anything about high schools would reply unanimously, that those were Hisakata Sesshoumaru and Tsukikage Rin.

Sesshoumaru was the intelligent and handsome son of the school's number one donor, Her Lady Hara Sessaika. Rin was Lady Hara's adopted daughter. She was trendy, posh, perfectly charismatic, and beautiful to a fault. Never let it be said that Rin was a hard worker or an honor roll student—she wasn't. She preferred shopping to studying, makeup to textbooks, gossip parties to study groups. Then why was she a considered a top student? Quite simply, there was no other young lady quite as accomplished as her. She could sing pop music like an idol but could deliver an aria just as well. She could draw in an entire ballroom with her tango but could also perform a pas de deux. Not to mention, of course, her considerable talent in calligraphy, flower arrangements, tea ceremonies, and traditional dancing.

If anything could describe her, it was that she was naturally gifted. Rin had no compunctions about showing off this fact either. She repeatedly placed in the top three in her class by just attending on testing days. She would organize school culture festivals with an ease that could only be the result of social talent. She was the perfect example of the kind of woman Sesshoumaru disliked with a fervor.

It wasn't always like this though. Rin could recall quite clearly what had brought about the change in her. When she was a mere orphan of five years, the matron in her orphanage had presented her, like a slab of meat on sale, to a tastefully dressed, elegant woman whom she would later come to admire greatly. The Lady Hara had taken one look at her and signed the paperwork. Lady Hara had the amazing skill of judging people accurately on a first meeting.

The now nineteen-year-old Rin traced the edges of her silk kimono absent-mindedly as she continued to recall the past events. She had been scared at that time. Lady Hara, with her overbearing elegance and beauty so stunning that it hurt to stare at for too long, the grand mansion she'd arrived in filled with servants, and the finely designed interior of her new bedroom complete with the finest furniture money could buy intimidated the young Rin. She was scared of the tutors who glared at her in disappointment when she failed to walk—no, glide—with a book on her head. She was nervous when it was time to eat because the maids had taken to scrutinizing her every action. In those first few weeks, Rin had wanted to run away from the majestic manor of a prison she'd found herself deposited in.

That was when Sesshoumaru arrived. He was Lady Hara's one and only child—the heir of the great Hara legacy that controlled the entertainment world from coast to international coast. He was also the product of Lady Hara's failed marriage to Lord Inutaisho, which had been neatly broken off when a certain maid had gotten rather round and heavy with Inutaisho's child.

He was under a lot more pressure than Rin was. While Rin was widely regarded as Lady Hara's pet philanthropy project, Sesshoumaru was the actual heir. The scrutiny on Rin dissipated rather quickly. Out of curiosity and sympathy for her fellow sufferer, Rin had crept into Sesshoumaru's practice room. He was a boy one year older than her, with long pale hair tied into a high ponytail and intent golden eyes.

"Rin-sama, it is time," a maid announced politely. The adult Rin neatly gathered her skirts around her and walked towards the screen door. If she had turned around, Rin would have seen the maid gazing reverently at her effortless grace and elegant bearing. But Rin didn't. Her mind was wandering in the memories from over a decade ago.

The child Sesshoumaru was only in his hakama, his thin but muscled torso glistening with perspiration. If it were not for his shear stubborn-minded pride, Rin was sure he would be buckled over and sagging by now. But the young lord struggled to maintain a noble posture, his cherubic face that was still slightly round with baby fat focused and determined. Again and again, he dashed at the instructor with his katana, only to be bounced back. But it wasn't a repeated effort. Rin noticed after a few charges that the "pretty" young lord always altered his attacks slightly with each new thrust, even as his growing arms strained with the weight of the metal sword.

It was only a full half hour after the instructor had gone for the day that Sesshoumaru stopped practicing. He fainted. Alarmed, Rin rushed to his side, tripping over her cumbersome wooden shoes and wide sleeves several times before reaching him. By then, he had come to again, watching with a mixture of adult disdain and childlike amusement at her stumbling figure. It was by mutual agreement that Rin didn't call for help. She couldn't make herself do it. The pride that emanated from his boyish body was too powerful for her to even consider calling a servant to help the young lord up. The two children struggled and stumbled their way into Sesshoumaru's bedroom. There, Rin carefully bandaged his scratches and cuts.

"I don't understand why you were using a katana! It's too heavy and you got cut by it! Isn't a bamboo sword better?" Rin asked as she cleaned out a particularly deep cut in his leg.

Sesshoumaru gave her a flat glare before calmly and condescendingly replying, "Shinai are for those who can afford to fail. I'm a lord. I have too much responsibility to fail."

"But, isn't it hard?"

"I like it. I can become stronger this way, stronger, faster, better."

The adult Rin chuckled. She was sure that Sesshoumaru's womanizing gift had manifested at that moment in his young life.

When he'd said those words, the ambition in his tone set his eyes glowing and his body, weary with fatigue, seemed much sturdier and stronger than before. His entire being seemed to sparkle. Rin was too young back then to understand the implications of her admiring gaze and deep blush when she saw him like that. She was too innocent to understand the danger in her silly grin whenever she recalled his bearing that night in his bedroom.

"Then I'll become stronger, faster, and better with you!" Rin had proclaimed in a moment of excitement and inspiration.

The young Sesshoumaru nodded at her, a pleased grin on his full lips, before he promptly erased it and gave a more lordly form of approval.


	2. Chapter 2

His Most Precious Girl

Ch. 2

It was raining outside. Rin experimentally extended her slender hand out of the shelter of the umbrella. The droplets were cold as ice and the autumnal wind beat unforgivingly at her delicate frame. The grown-up Rin stepped into the awaiting limousine, her mind reliving happy times even as she was sped to Sesshoumaru's engagement ceremony.

True to her promise, Rin did get stronger with Sesshoumaru. She put more effort into her etiquette lessons and her studies, sometimes staying up late into the night to practice the proper placement of the tea bowl during a tea ceremony or to complete a problem set. Since martial arts were not deemed appropriate for a young lady to be trained in, Rin and Sesshoumaru had arranged a schedule in which they would meet in secret to practice together.

"Since you're a girl and girls are weaker than guys, you shouldn't be trying to hit harder. A better way to improve the impact of your hits is by increasing your speed."

By then, Rin was twelve years old and horribly pro-feminist. She pushed herself up from the dojo floor and her fist flew up at Sesshoumaru's pretty face. The element of surprise was on her side and her punch connected with his rather delicately and beautifully crafted cheekbone.

"You! You dare…" He sputtered, in disbelieving rage.

Rin cocked a smug eyebrow at his quickly swelling cheek and retorted, "How's that for increased speed?"

He glared at her and if Rin hadn't been on the receiving end of his piercing glares many times before that, she might've actually been affected. Unfortunately for Sesshoumaru, he'd glared at her for several years by now.

The girl arrogantly swaggered up to the kneeling teenager, while crooning in a babying voice, "Aww…is wittle Sesshy getting his ego stomped to pieces?"

He growled. Then he pounced. Rin felt, rather than saw, Sesshoumaru's hands push her with the weight of his entire body behind them. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself pinned to the ground, her back throbbing in protest at the sudden impact. She winced, then glared up at the smug Sesshoumaru.

"_That's_ what I meant by speed, turtle-san," he replied triumphantly. Then, his youthful, attractive, but now bruised face took on a contemplative look.

"Don't think too hard—you'll get hurt," Rin shot back, her small hands pushing at Sesshoumaru's chest. Why was he so heavy? Jeez, at this rate, she'd have to start eating more to even out the playing field!

That was when she felt something touching her lips. Two somethings…it felt like. They were soft, warm, smooth. The gentle pressure they applied on her own lips were not unpleasant. Instinctively, Rin arched herself up and moaned. Then, she understood what was happening. Sesshoumaru was kissing her!

In a frenzy of fumbling hands, she hit at his forehead, kneed his stomach, bit his lips, and then proceeded to punch at his bruising cheek.

"Ow! Watch it woman!" He whined, sitting up and scooting away from her. Then, he shot her a smug grin.

"You liked it though, right?"

Rin fumed, her hands furiously wiping at her mouth until it hurt.

"That…that was awful! You…You Neanderthal! That just went against every rule of feminine dignity and respect I've ever…Grrr!"

Sesshoumaru paused in his pleased gloating.

"Awful?" he repeated quietly.

Then he set his posture to the rigid, formal stance expected of a young lord.

"It's unlady-like to lie," he whispered, holding her chin between his fingers, "you were _moaning_." He gave a short laugh and sauntered back to his room.

It took Rin a considerable amount of time before she could regain her composure.

Rin watched the city scenery fly by her. She smiled at that last memory, a fond grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. That had been her first kiss…and his too, she liked to imagine. There used to be another thing about that first kiss she liked to daydream about too.

The next day, after that fateful kiss, Rin arrived promptly at her weekly etiquette lesson in the main dining room. However, her tutor wasn't there. Instead, Lady Hara herself was there, calmly sipping her morning tea.

"Lady Mother," Rin greeted with a well-practiced bow.

"Rin," Lady Hara greeted with a nod of her head, "today, I will be teaching you."

Rin could barely hold in her excitement. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with Lady Hara but now that she'd gotten over her initial fear of the woman, she'd come to admire her greatly.

"I will be telling you a myth that has been passed down the Hara family for generations."

By now, Rin was wriggling in her seat. She could hardly believe her luck! No etiquette lessons and to top it off, a whole morning spent with Lady Hara learning about the family. Having no recollection of her own family, Rin cherished these familial feelings whenever she could receive them.

Lady Hara cast a disproving eye at Rin's wriggling. Wriggling stopped. Sessaika was pleased.

"It is a long-held myth that the first lords and ladies of certain old nobility were not entirely human. They were of a species, that upon maturity, would seek out a mate. While this seems true to any species, to these old families in particular, it is said that mates came in different forms. There were the regular mates—those who met by chance. Most relationships and marriages result from this. Next there are the life mates—whose life forces were bound together since birth so that one could not survive without the other. Sometimes, this also meant that if one member of the pair had a longer life span, the other would live longer as well. Finally, there were the rarest and most precious of all—the soul mates. Soul mates were created from two halves of the same soul. Not only do they share life spans like life mates do, but they are also reincarnated together to be with each other over and over again."

Being a young girl, Rin was starry eyed by the time Lady Sessaika paused to sip her tea again.

"And then? Do you think it's real then?"

"Hm…I sometimes wonder about that," the Lady murmured, amused by Rin's enthusiasm, "afterall, Inutaisho did claim that Izayoi was his life mate so his marriage to a regular mate like myself would just have to be annulled."

Rin gasped. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

The Lady waved her off. "Nothing of the sort, Rin. Mine was a marriage of convenience," continuing on, "A person is able to have multiple regular mates, or spouses, over the span of his life. However, once that person meets his life mate or soul mate, he will remain loyal, devoted, and utterly in love for the rest of his or her life. A person can only have a soul mate or a life mate—not both."

"How? How did they know if they'd found the other half?" Rin whispered excitedly, her face flushed with the romantic possibilities that set her young girl's heart aflutter.

"You read romance novels, don't you?"

Rin blushed.

"I saw them hidden behind your school books last time I was in your room," Lady Hara added with a small smile.

"Most archived stories of life mate meetings in the Hara library speak of a kiss. I guess like the sort of spark or shock those silly books of yours describe."

"Lady Mother!" Rin gasped out in laughter, "That means you must've read some of those 'silly books' to know what was in them!"

Lady Hara sniffed disdainfully to cover up her amused smile. Yes, she'd come to be quite fond of Rin.

"Sesshoumaru was much more composed than you when I told him about this yesterday."

It wasn't until later that night when Rin was lying in her bed that she vividly recalled her first kiss. Had Sesshoumaru been testing out that kiss theory? Rin giggled nervously, her face ablaze. She gingerly fingered her lips before curling up in her blankets, giggling and laughing with girlish embarrassment.

How she wished she could go back to those days. Rin sighed, checking her watch. She would be arriving soon. Arriving at Sesshoumaru's engagement ceremony…to another woman.


	3. Chapter 3

Yes, yes, a new chapter—FINALLY! Hopefully, you'll enjoy this one. And for those of you waiting for updates on For the Ice King in Full Blossom and Reaction Mechanism, they have not been abandoned.

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A pale ivory hand gingerly brushed a few lose strands of silky dark hair away from a pair of large, thickly lashed, hazel eyes. The woman let out a small sigh as she effortlessly glided down the dirt-covered streets of Manhattan under the humid summer heat. Her black leather high heels clipped in rhythm and around her, it seemed that crowds of people sweating underneathe the unrelenting sun parted for a celestial descending on earth.

Indeed, the celestial was descending. Rin had been in high spirits when Lady Hara attended a conference in New York for the last week. Their relationship was hardly that of a regular mother and daughter, but the two shared a reciprocal respect for each other, along with an understanding of the other party that few could claim to share. To put it bluntly, they were eachother's only friends.

Rin allowed one corner of her painted, lush lips to pull into a grim upwards quirk, almost condescendingly.

"All the acquaintances, the press, the employees," she renumerated to herself, "and not a single one I can have a real conversation with. Acquaintances always want something. The press is almost worse—they claim to be on my side but one slip of the tongue and they'd have a hay day. And of course, the employees range from self-interested sycophancy to managers and VPs who deem themselves more capable than I am."

Rin, at twenty-three, was the president and CEO of Cote Modeling Management, one of New York's biggest and most high profile model management firms. No one quite knew where the beautiful, seemingly ephemeral wisp of a woman had come from, or how and when she took the international modeling world by storm.

The then nineteen year old had confidently presented herself to the owner of a large realty establishment and calmly told him that she would be purchasing his neoclassical, thirteen floor high rise situated at the junction of Broadway and 42nd Street, Times Square. What followed was the aggressive scouting for new models that the woman, who had no modeling experience herself, conducted on her own. By the end of the first year, ten former nobodies from around the globe began stalking down the runways of Fashion Weeks around the world from a previously unheard-of agency. It was only then that Rin had relinquished her tight hold over the agency and deigned to hire managers and other staff.

To many in the world, Rin Tsukikage was super-human. To her industry rivals, she was a cold, ruthless, control-freak.

The clicking of her shoes stopped in front of a quaint bakery on the upper west side. The aroma of cupcakes, scones, and soft creamy icing floated gently along the breeze.

"Should I?" Rin pondered her internal dispute. "Eating the stuff now would seem like I were suffering from depression right after seeing Lady Mother off to the airport. Which I most certainly am not," she firmly told herself. "But it smells so good!"

"If you don't go in, Miss, it'll seem like you're trying to lose weight," an achingly familiar and masculine voice teased.

Rin froze. Then, she swirled around with a speed that surprised the person behind her. So much so that he almost dropped the little girl he was balancing on his left arm. When he saw Rin's face, he did drop her. Luckily, the child landed with a soft "oofph" on one of the cushioned chairs the bakery had placed outside. However, that was hardly Rin, or the man's concern.

"R-Rin?" he stuttered.

Rin didn't think that this particular person knew how to stutter. However, the mere fact that he called her name proved to her that the tall silver-haired Adonis before her was more than a coincidental replica.

"Hisakata-san," Rin acknowledged, with a bow that was stiffer than she would have liked.

"There's no need to be so formal," the man smiled awkwardly, "Just call me Sesshoumaru."

"Even though we are in another country," the small woman rebuked, "calling another by their given name without an honorific denotes a degree of familiarity that I do not deem we share."

The man grew silent. "Very well then, Tsukikage-san."

Rin almost grinned. When she turned her back to enter the shop, she did grin. It was a wistful and transient thing.

Picking out a vanilla cupcake, Rin made her purchase and headed for the exit. Subconsciously, or at least she told herself it was so, she turned her head to look behind.

Surprisingly, the silver-haired male who haunted her rememories was nowhere to be seen. Alarmed, she swerved herself around to check again. He wasn't there. She felt faint. Was that just her imagination?

"If it were my imagination, I shouldn't have turned around so quickly," she thought grimly to herself.

"But of course, why would he be here? He should be in Japan, reigning over the Hara empire. Why would he be in New York, holding some toddler in a frilly dress outside a bakery? For goodness' sake, he never even like sweets!"

A knock came from behind her.

Her finely arched eyebrow ticked. Now what? Couldn't the person see that this was the exit door she standing next to?

Another knock.

She finally turned around—to see Sesshoumaru holding the toddler, now sniffling, grinning sheepishly at her from the other side of the glass door.

She opened the door disbelievingly.

"Hey, can you do me a favor?"

Rin almost sighed in relief. This man could not be Sesshoumaru! Sesshoumaru didn't ask for favors, he gave out commands. Sesshoumaru would never smile so easily, nor would he even dream of carrying a little toddler around.

"What?" Rin almost grimaced at her own gruff manner.

"Hikaru is very upset that I dropped her earlier and with her crying as it is, it's probably a bad idea to bring her into the shop. Can you buy me one of the smaller cakes in there?" He asked, then seeing her hesitance, he quickly added, "I'll pay you back as soon as you come out!"

Reluctantly, Rin felt her feet carrying her back into the shop again.

Who was she kidding? They had always agreed to be honest to themselves. Trying to convince oneself of anything but the truth was foolish. That man was Hisakata Sesshoumaru in the flesh.

Rin could feel her hands shaking as she pointed at a random cake in the display window.

His voice, his body, his every motion—could only belong to one person. But his pride, his confidence, his eternal supremacy and force of character were gone. What had happened to the man she grew up with in these short four years? Where had all his talent disappeared to? Where had his self-respect gone? This was not the Sesshoumaru she knew. He was a humble man with an easy smile now.

Once again, Rin felt herself smiling bitterly.

"So this was you wanted?" she wondered, "I tried so hard to race against you back then…But it seems we were running towards different finish lines all along. No wonder I could never catch you past the turning point of our tracks. Not your attention, or even a single glance my way."

"So…What did you end up choosing?" Sesshoumaru grinned amicably. The toddler was noticeably standing on her own now, as if to prevent him from her again.

"The Red Velvet," she answered, "that'll be thirty-two dollars."

She could see the small wince of his eyebrows.

"Tell me you're not ripping me off—for a six inch cake? I really should have gone to a grocery store after all."

Rin wanted to charge him a hundred dollars right then. To see how he would react. The old Sesshoumaru would have given it without a word. And then fired her from the grand post of cake buyer the next second.

"Is it too late to return it?"

If Rin were less refined, she would have gawked. At this rate, she merely had her lower jaw hanging open—very slightly. Since when did he—heir of a multi-million dollar luxury chain—get so cheap and prideless?

Seeing her expression, he added, "I don't have that much cash on me right now. And, this is for Kagome's birthday—remember Kagome? You were at our engagement ceremony a few years ago, though you were too busy to attend the actual wedding. She doesn't like elaborate cakes like this—I think a plain vanilla cake would do."

Rin shot a glance at the toddler. The little girl nodded to affirm Kagome's tastes.

Rin firmly placed the cake onto the bench outside the bakery and walked back in to purchase a new one, deliberately throwing the previous receipt into the trash.

"What are you going to do with the other?"

Rin glared at him with condescension. "Take it back with me," she answered, stalking off towards her apartment without bothering to ask for the money.

That night, her small frame miraculously finished off one cupcake and an entire six inch cake.

It was not until the next afternoon that Rin, who was hurriedly sipping her coffee and reading a report on the valuation of a new contract that she noticed a small envelope that had been deposited on her desk by the mailman earlier in the day. Inside was a crisp one hundred dollar bill.

Unwittingly, Rin's lips pulled into an amused and hopeful smile.

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Enjoy the summer! And, hint hint, reviews are good =)


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